Dominica receives CDC travel notice for Zika virus

The Zika virus and its infection patterns are constantly being watched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the organization's acute attention to the continuing transmission has led to its declaring a travel notice for Dominica.

The CDC is constantly updating its list of Zika virus regions and notes that anyone traveling to a location with Zika virus is capable of contracting it, as the aggressive mosquitos that carry it bite during the day and the night. Preventing mosquito bites is of the utmost importance because there is currently no vaccine or treatment for those with Zika virus.

If traveling to a location with Zika virus, infection may not be known until the traveler has left the country. Symptoms include fever, rash, joint aches and red eyes, though the dangerous part about Zika virus is that it does not always immediately display symptoms. It is especially important to practice safe sex if you or your partner have recently traveled to an area with Zika virus, as there has been evidence that it can be sexually transmitted. This is especially important if a woman is pregnant or intending to become pregnant.

Furthermore, it has been proposed that Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is extremely likely to be connected with Zika virus, though the CDC is still conducting research with Brazil to confirm these assumptions.

To see the regions with confirmed Zika virus occurrences, refer to the CDC home page.